I have had the SD950IS for about 18 months and love it. I use mine indoors and outside. I see no problems with the battery cover. It is the only small camera that I found with a metal body (Titanium) and I have dropped mine with no damage. I use mine in the Auto mode most of the time and find the ease of use and quality are good. Most of the complaints seem to be a lack of knowledge by the user. This is my third Canon and won't be my last. Failure to understand the Users Manual seems like a Users problem. Since I keep my camera with me most of the time I bought a spare battery. The battery life is so good the spare doesn't get used much.

I too thought the screen went blank, until I realized that it is actually a setting on the camera where you can turn the screen off! So those of you who think your LCD stopped working. CHECK AGAIN!! It is the little "disp" button on the back. It has three settings1. just screen view2.Screen view with functions showing3. Blacked out or "turned off"

I had a blacked out screen for two weeks until I realized by accidentally hitting the button that I had hit the button earlier.

Received this camera and found that it takes excellent photos - especially Macro pics. The video quality from this camera is also excellent. I was quite disappointed however when it suddenly stopped working (while on vacation no less). However, as soon as I got home, I found out how to send it in and what I needed to do. Did as they asked and the camera was fixed and returned within less than a week (this includes my shipping time)! Once they fixed it they overnighted it to me. I did not have to pay one cent for any of it. Since then, I have not had any issues and that was 8 months ago. The stabilizer on this camera is remarkable. I can spin around in circles and hit the button and there is a clear still shot of wherever I happened to be at the time. Most cameras there would be a huge blurr. Macro I get blurr sometimes but it is usually due to my hands shaking. Nice size - not too small / not too big. Screen is easy to see.

Cons: cannot use flash in "d" mode, slow and difficult to focus at times esp in zoom

This camera does have some great features, (you need to practice a little with the controls to become familiar...but it's not too hard), and would be perfect for me, but its downfalls are...1. too slow to respond, causes many lost photo opps.2. hard and slow to focus at times, and especially when zoomed in on something..3. when in "M" mode, you can manually work the flash, (great), but it is colse up and nigh on impossible to be able to get a good group shot...unless the person taking the picture stands 20 paces away.....when in "D" mode, you can get those great widw angle group shots, but the flash is always off in this mode. Hence forget getting any nightime group shots or wide angle indoor shots with this camera.I am now ready to resell this camera (and I will disclose its short comings) because the flash issue is really driving me mad, to say the least.Would love another Canon, but so scared to drop another $300 or $400 and end up with the upgraded model that has the same issues!.

When taking pictures with the flash indoors, you receive a reflection from any dust in the air resulting in poor quality. Outdoor shots are good. It could use manual controls on aperature and shutter speed.

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Review 7 for PowerShot SD950 IS

Nickname: Josh

Location: Plymouth, MA

Used this product for: 3 to 6 months

Expertise Level: Advanced Amateur

Product replacement: Yes

low quality

Overall Rating

1out of5

Features

5out of5

Performance

5out of5

Price/Value

1out of5

Quality

1out of5

Satisfaction

1out of5

Date:September 18, 2009

Cons: Poor Low-Light Performance, low quality

Broke down after 6 months of use. The LCD stopped working, the lenses are making a weird sound

This takes great pictures but the controls and features are poorly explained in the instruction manual and much too complicated to figure out with trial and error approach. Great probably for an experienced person, but no good for the beginner.

I've owned this camera for 2.5 years. It took great pics and I was very pleased with it. I even bought an underwater case and took great underwater shots too. Until one day, while taking pictures, the LCD suddenly went out. It's just stopped working. No warning, nothing - the screen just went black. The camera works - it still takes pictures, but since there's no LCD screen, I can't use the features, can't review pictures, etc. Buyers BEWARE!!

This was actually a great camera. I took great pictures with it, and I was amazed how sometimes was close in quality to the other camera I have, a Canon EOS 40D. It was great until suddenly became defective. No falls, no other damages, just stopped working suddenly. Instead of seeing what you are supposed to photograph on LCD, I am able to see vertical violet stripes that are varying with the quantity of light. I guess crowding a 12 megapixel sensor in a small camera has it price. The screen is working fine, I can still see the pictures on the card, but instead of normal pictures all I've got is a completely black image. Years ago it was a problem common for Canon printers users: their printers stopped working after reaching a limit number of printed papers, no matter they were still in perfect shape. This may be a similar issue, isn't it, Canon guys? A good advice for everyone buying this model: look how many customers have the same issue (the camera suddenly stopped functioning) on different review sites...

I previously purchased a Canon Elph 900. It was a marvelous camera. Well made and wonderful features. Unfortunately it was lost or stolen so I tried to buy another 900 but had no luck. After reveiwing the features and reports I decided to go with the 950 and have been very disappointed. Doesnt have the features that the 900 had and the battery door is flimsy and I am sure will be broken off soon as it sticks out so far when opened.

but canon fixed it no problem but now it makes a loud noise when turning it on... disappointed because it is my 3rd canon and never had a proble before. but the pictures are good... to bad the screen is small.

Although this is my first digital camera, I found it to be highly reliable and takes some beautiful pictures. I use this primarily as a dive camera and purchased the underwater case from Canon to use while diving. The auto feature for underwater scenes works beautifully. I have not had a single issue with this camera. The menu items are difficult in the beginning but after a few dives I was totally used to them and take great shots with out any real affect in my dive profile.

The SD 100 was my first (actually the film versions of the ELPH was my first) in this long line of sophisticated digital "point and shoots."I have taken the various incarnations scuba diving as my underwater housed camera. I have never been disappointed. The SD950IS offers flexibility and shooting options well beyond its size. It might be small but it shoots big. The IS feature is a plus in the underwater environment. The 12.1 megapixel allows for added flexibility when using processing software. I am pleased and will always be a huge "ELPHAN!"

The camera was working well for 1 year, and now just a month after the warranty expired it fails to turn on. I bought new batteries and a new charger, but nothing works.

26 of 28 people found this review helpful.

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Review 17 for PowerShot SD950 IS

Nickname: jim

Location: Chicago

Used this product for: 1 to 3 months

Expertise Level: Advanced Amateur

Product replacement: Yes

Lense is NOT wide angle

Overall Rating

1out of5

Date:December 6, 2008

Cons: not wide angle lense

The SD950-IS lense is NOT a wde angle lense like the SD800-IS. Wide angle is ideal for photos of family & friend and landscape pics of our ski vacations, etc. (essentially everything I do with a camers). Very disappointing. I went back to the SD800-IS and the new SD950-IS sits on the side of my desk for months doing nothing...

The camera build quality and performance is excellent. It would have been nice to have a wider lens. Nature/low light performance is very impressive. Major drawback is the amount of red eye in indoor family pictures. Even with red eye reduction on it does not go away and the post processing capability of red-eye correction does nothing for the problem eyes. Have to bring the pictures up in photo shop to fix them.

The SD950 has a very elegant look with it's titanium body. It stands out in the crowd-it's an eye catcher. It's perfect for everyone from the intermediat beginner looking for a more advanced point and shoot, to the profesional photographer looking for a powerful camera that fits in a pocket. The kids and pets feature is extremely handy for fast-moving objects. The self-timer function has become invaluable for me. There are a host of special sceen modes if you want/need to simplify things, or you can turn it to manual control and control most settings manualy. The one thing it lacks in manual control is the ability to change the apature size and the focal length-these are done automaticaly. Other than that, most settings can be controled manualy. It also has trouble focusing in some scenarios, and often won't recognize all the faces in the picture. However, I am extremely happy with the image quality and clarity.